Blonde Girl 1927

Alice Pike Barney made this pastel drawing of a girl, we think in 1933, and it makes me wonder about the delicate dance between control and chance, you know? See how the strokes of color build the form, hatching like an egg, and then how the light washes it all out again? It's like Barney is feeling her way through the image, almost as if the girl is a ghost. I can imagine Barney standing before her subject, charcoal or pastel stick in hand, stepping back and squinting. Trying to capture not just the girl's likeness, but also something of her spirit. There’s something vulnerable about her, but it's also a tender, hopeful, and intimate exchange. I see a conversation, a collaboration between artist and model, each leaving their mark. It’s what all artists do.